Bill
H 91
Establishes VHEARTH, a statewide emergency shelter and housing-transition program replacing GA/HOG in phases, led by DCF with Housing First and noncongregate shelter.
Status (as of materials provided)
- Passed both chambers after committee conference; delivered to the Governor on June 5, 2025.
- Vetoed by the Governor on June 11, 2025. Listed on the legislature’s Action Calendar as “Governor’s Veto” (pending any override action).
Purpose and intent
- Establish a statewide, permanent emergency shelter and transition-to-housing program to reduce unsheltered homelessness and make homelessness “rare, brief, and nonrecurring.”
- Replace Vermont’s existing emergency housing provided through the General Assistance (GA) emergency housing program and the Housing Opportunity Grant (HOG) program on a staged timeline (GA beginning FY2027; HOG beginning FY2028 in later versions).
- Emphasize Housing First principles, trauma-informed practices, noncongregate shelter where possible, and elimination of disruptive practices such as night-by-night sheltering and frequent relocation.
Key provisions
- Creates 33 V.S.A. chapter 22 to establish the Vermont Homeless Emergency Assistance and Responsive Transition to Housing Program (VHEARTH, sometimes referred to in House versions as the Emergency Temporary Shelter Program). Effective date language in drafts: July 1, 2025 (if enacted).
- Program components:
- Community-based shelters operated by community action agencies and other providers; use of hotels/motels restricted and permitted only after exhausting community-based options.
- Coordinated entry, supportive services (to prevent homelessness and assist transitions), emergency shelters, and extreme-weather shelters.
- Population-specific services and shelters (including for people experiencing or who have experienced domestic or sexual violence) delivered by statewide providers as appropriate.
- Governance and local engagement:
- Each community action agency must convene a regional advisory council reflecting local diversity and stakeholders (service providers, municipalities, people with lived experience, etc.).
- An Advisory Committee composed of individuals with lived experience (appointed by coordinated-entry leads) is established to advise the Department for Children and Families; members eligible for per diem (committee sunsetting/repeal date included in House language: July 1, 2029).
- Operational rules and accountability:
- Department for Children and Families (DCF) administers the program, proposes hotel/motel rates via the budget, may enter contracts with lodging operators, and may withhold payment for licensing or public health/safety violations.
- Program must limit relocation between shelter sites and reduce reliance on hotel/motel placements.
- Funding: Intends to reallocate funds previously used for GA and HOG and to draw on identified State and federal monies; some versions require that emergency shelter funding in FY2027–FY2028 be at least at FY2025 levels.
Who is affected
- People and households who are homeless or at risk of homelessness (including children, older adults, survivors of domestic/sexual violence, and those experiencing unsheltered homelessness).
- Community action agencies, homeless shelter operators, coordinated entry lead agencies, statewide victim-service providers, municipalities, and hotels/motels that might contract with the State.
- Department for Children and Families (program administration) and other State agencies involved in housing, health, and safety oversight.
Procedural/timeline notes
- The bill went through House and Senate committee amendments, a conference committee, and final legislative approval before being delivered to the Governor.
- Governor’s veto (June 11, 2025) places the measure on the legislature’s veto calendar; final enactment will depend on the legislature’s response (sustaining or overriding the veto).
- If enacted consistent with text in several drafts, the program would take effect July 1, 2025, with statutory phasing out/replacement of GA and HOG funding in FY2027–FY2028.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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